Five years ago, at this moment, I was on the last leg of our move to Kathmandu. I was equal parts scared and exhilarated, terrified and hopeful. It had been a long, exhausting process just getting to the field, and finally getting on with it was a relief. At the same time, I was stepping into a new life without the support system I had come to depend on so deeply. I was already missing my best friend and composing emails to her in my mind about our travel adventures. I felt the weight of the ever-growing distance between what had been, and what would be. I was ready.
Missions
Nepal
After a summer spent concentrating on domestic ministry details and planning trainings on the other side of the globe, Christopher leaves U.S. soil again this weekend. He’s headed to Nepal, to a location we’ve long prayed to step into. It’s not only unreached with the Gospel, but also strategically located near the Indian border. The impact trainings here can have is unparalleled; we are grateful for the opportunity. We’re also grateful for…
August
I wrote out the August schedule on the dry erase master calendar I keep on the side of our fridge yesterday. Wiping away July was a little sad, because as full as it seemed some weeks, there was still a margin— a wisp of summer— that I knew would be missing once we turned the page to August.
I was right.
FREEDOM
Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day, and it stirred a lot of thoughts in my mind about freedom. I’m grateful to have a US passport. I’ve seen many other nations and count it a blessing that the Lord chose to plant me here, on this soil, in this time. I recognize that being born here grants me rights and privileges that many do not enjoy.
But if you’re a Christian, your greatest freedom is in Christ. Period. And that’s a big part of what motivates our family’s ministry; bringing the Good News to unreached people invites them into that freedom for eternity!
The Darling Buds of May
I looked up, and it was June. Not just June, but the actual middle of June. And here I am, wondering what happened to May.
Take Two
As gut-punch challenging as this year has been for our family personally, ministry has thrived. It’s a balm in the moments when we start to wonder if Job’s friends are going to start showing up to offer advice; At least, we console ourselves, the Gospel is being preached.
While You Were Sleeping
Maybe you were literally sleeping. Maybe you were in your bed, secure in the fact that no insects or wild beasts would interrupt your night. You were well fed. You had no fear of your neighbors, or your government. Your children were all accounted for, and safe.
House to House
I’m sitting here, early afternoon, out of the country, trying to overcome jet lag, and all I want to do is take a nap. But I can’t. Not if I’m going to get a good sleep tonight in preparation for tomorrow’s pastor’s training.
Already finished my Bible reading for the day. Read some Hemingway short stories I’ve read dozens of times but still love. Then I remember, tucked away in one of my bags is that book my wife wanted me to read, the one called The Gospel Comes With A House Key, by Rosaria Butterfield (affiliate link).
So I read the preface. And already, I don’t like it.
Who Will Go Next?
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. —Jim Elliot
I’ve been surprised by the ongoing dialogue regarding John Chau’s brutal death at the hands of the North Sentinelese, a small tribe living isolated on the Andaman Islands off the coast of India.
I’m not interested in the non-Christian perspective, as they will never understand a believer’s call to share the Gospel at all costs. But more surprising to me has been the debate among Christians as to whether this man was called by Christ or whether he should have at least followed some other method for sharing the Gospel. Continue reading
The Long Return Home
I’m sitting in a coffee shop, 7:30 in the morning, in downtown Phnom Penh. And so begins the transition home following two weeks of training pastors in Asia.
It’s always slightly surreal as I feel my body and brain being stretched in two different directions. Continue reading